


Night Driving

by carolinecrane



Series: down is where we came from [35]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-13 09:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/135950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kurt discovers that sometimes you can go home again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Driving

Kurt’s aware that he looks less than impeccable when they get back to his father’s house. They could both use a shower, certainly, and it would have been more efficient to shower together before they checked out of the hotel, but in Kurt’s defense, Puck can be distracting.

Puck doesn’t have Kurt’s hair issues, though, so the only visible sign that he’s just spent two solid days having sex on every surface available to him is his smug expression. He’s moving a little slow, but they _have_ expended a lot of energy in the past two days, so it’s to be expected. Kurt smiles at the memory and reaches for his hand, pulling Puck into the house and down the basement stairs before any of his family members spot them.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs Puck sets their bags down, then he catches Kurt around the waist and pulls him close. And they’ve spent the past two days just touching, but Kurt slides his arms around Puck’s neck anyway and lets Puck lean in for a soft kiss. His hand pushes through Kurt’s hair, arranging it into an even more disastrous mess, Kurt’s sure. He lets Puck do that too, but when Puck finally pulls back to look at him Kurt frowns and pats his hair down.

“Just for that, you can wait for the shower.”

“Fine by me, babe,” Puck says, then he throws himself down on Kurt’s bed, and Kurt’s first instinct is to make him get right back up again, because he smells like a brothel. But considering the sheets they’ve spent the past two days passing out on, Puck can hardly mess up the bed that much in the time it will take Kurt to shower and fix his hair.

So he leaves Puck where he is and picks up his overnight bag and a fresh change of clothes, and by the time he reaches the bathroom Puck’s already snoring softly from the bed. Which means Puck can’t see him, so Kurt doesn’t have to worry about encouraging his already overblown sense of his own irresistibility when he smiles affectionately at the lump in the center of the bed and closes the bathroom door behind him.

Half an hour later he emerges in a cloud of tastefully scented steam, moisturized and well-coiffed and his clothes, if not perfectly pressed, at least not reeking of sex. Kurt thinks of that first morning in Puck’s apartment and Puck’s theory on the pressing properties of shower steam, and grins at the wrinkles still marring his Calvin Klein button-down. So he’s not marrying Puck for his fashion sense; that much, at least, has been clear from the beginning.

But he’s still _marrying Puck_.

His heart does a completely embarrassing somersault every time he remembers; it’s undignified, to say the least, and for once he doesn’t really care. Because he’s marrying _Puck_ , as in, Noah Puckerman wants to marry him and then spend the rest of their lives making Kurt crazy.

And he’s dreamed about getting married since he was just a little boy, but somehow the reality that Puck wants to marry him keeps catching him by surprise. His heart keeps racing at the strangest moments, like when he looks up from doing something as mundane as buttoning his shirt to find Puck watching him. Or when he wakes up to find Puck sprawled across the mattress next to him, making noises like a bear, but still reaching for him as soon as Kurt moves, even though he’s fast asleep. Then there’s the way Puck keeps catching Kurt’s left hand and pressing his lips to the ring he put on Kurt’s finger just three days ago.

He’s roughly five steps away from declaring a moratorium on all house rules, to hell with the fact that his entire family’s upstairs and probably heard him in the shower and realized they’re back by now. He doesn’t even care that if he climbs into bed with Puck and wakes him up, they’ll both need a shower all over again. He’s entitled to a little reckless self-indulgence, after all, considering he’s newly engaged.

Before he throws caution to the wind and tries out one of the number of interesting wake-up calls currently running through his mind the basement door opens, and Kurt sighs and turns away from the bed to watch Finn climb down the stairs. When he looks up and sees Kurt he blinks, like maybe he didn’t know they were here after all. His gaze slides past Kurt to the Puck-shaped lump in the center of his bed, then he looks at Kurt again.

“Hey. I didn’t know you guys were back already.”

“I wanted to clean up a little before I said hello. I hope you don’t mind,” Kurt says, gesturing in the direction of the bathroom.

“No, of course not,” Finn answers. For a second he just stands there and looks at Kurt, then Puck snorts in his sleep and turns over and Kurt’s heart does that somersault thing again, which would be positively _humiliating_ if Finn could actually see it happening. As it is, Finn just glances at Puck as though he’s already forgotten Puck’s in the room, then he blushes and turns away from Kurt’s bed. “I just came down to grab my phone. I’ll give you guys some privacy.”

And really, Kurt hoped that they were past this by now, because Puck’s just _sleeping_ , for God’s sake, and okay, they all know why he’s so tired, but it’s not like they brought back a souvenir video for Finn to watch.

“It’s fine. Noah sleeps like the dead, and you’re certainly not disturbing me.”

He watches Finn moving around his side of the room for a moment, notes the tension in his shoulders and the way he’s avoiding looking over at Kurt. And he can’t still be this uncomfortable with the idea of Kurt and Puck, not after everything that’s happened in the past few days. If it’s the idea of what they’ve spent the past two days _doing_ Kurt feels pretty sorry for Will, but he feels even sorrier for Finn, because he’d hoped Finn would have made a few steps forward in that department by the time Kurt and Puck got back.

“How are things with Will?”

Finn looks up at the mention of Will’s name, but instead of blushing and grinning like a complete fool, he just shrugs and fixes his gaze on Kurt’s forehead as though he doesn’t really want to discuss it. “Okay, I guess.”

And this is exactly what Kurt was afraid of, because Finn’s sort of aimless and frustrating, but he’s basically a good person and he means well, and Kurt doesn’t want to see him hurt.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Finn says, then he sighs and looks at Kurt for real, and Kurt can see clearly that it’s not nothing, not by a long shot. “I told Mom how I feel about him. She’s trying to understand, but it’s kind of weird right now. I think she’s afraid he’s taking advantage or whatever because he used to be an authority figure. I mean, that was a long time ago, you know? We’ve just been friends for a few years now, but she’s not getting that.”

Kurt can see where Carole’s coming from, and even though he wouldn’t say so to Finn, he’s been worrying a little about that himself. Not that he thinks Schue’s going to take advantage of Finn on purpose or anything; Schue’s so _nice_ it’s almost painful, but he has a tendency to want to rescue people, and when it doesn’t go the way he plans...well, they all saw what happened with Ms. Pillsbury.

“Have you told Will how you feel about him?” he asks, and when two bright spots bloom in Finn’s cheeks he has his answer.

“Yeah. Well, sort of. I haven’t said ‘I love you’ or anything, but I think he got the hint when I kissed him.”

His mouth lifts into a little smile when he says it, almost as though he can’t help himself, so Kurt’s reasonably sure that Schue at least kissed him back. But it’s obvious that there’s still something not quite right, and Kurt wonders how much of it is Carole and her reluctance to embrace Finn’s new relationship and how much of it has to do with Will himself.

“So does that mean you’re seeing each other now?”

“Yeah. I mean...we’ve sort of been dating for awhile, I think. I just took a long time to clue in.” Finn pauses and laughs, blushing even harder now and this time Kurt returns his smile. “Man, Will must have been ready to hit me over the head with a brick or something.”

Kurt hasn’t been around to see firsthand, so all he has to go on is the little he’s heard from Burt and Carole and Finn himself, and a couple hours of watching Will and Finn make eyes at each other over a family dinner. But he’s heard enough to guess that whatever feelings Will’s been harboring for his stepbrother all this time, he probably never would have made the first move.

Chances are that even now there’s a part of him that agrees with Carole, thinks it’s wrong somehow to have feelings for a former student. So the fact that he’s ignored it for however long -- and Kurt chooses to believe it hasn’t been as long as high school, despite any evidence to the contrary that Puck might try to interject, because that _is_ a little disturbing -- doesn’t necessarily make him a saint. Mostly it makes him kind of a coward, but given the circumstances, Kurt can’t exactly blame him.

Still, he feels a little responsible for the mess Finn currently finds himself in. Maybe he would have gotten there on his own eventually, or maybe Schue would finally have run out of patience and done something about it. It’s probably more likely Will would have married another lunatic, just to distract himself from what may very well be his best shot at lasting happiness, and Finn...well, Kurt’s not sure what Finn would have done, but it’s lucky for all of them that Quinn’s too smart to settle for him.

“I invited him to Christmas dinner,” Finn says, smile turning sort of sheepish. “I don’t think Mom’s exactly thrilled about that idea.”

“I imagine she’s not,” Kurt answers, and he regrets it a little when Finn’s smile fades, but that doesn’t make it any less true. “But all things considered, it’s probably for the best. The more time she spends around the two of you, the faster she’ll realize that Schue’s not some creepy opportunist, despoiling innocent virgins and leaving a trail of broken underage hearts in his wake.”

He thinks about suggesting that it might be easier for Carole to start thinking of Finn as a grown man and not some doe-eyed teenager if he moved out of his parents’ basement, but before he makes up his mind Finn’s rolling his eyes and blushing all over again.

“Dude, I’m not a virgin.”

“Only in a manner of speaking,” Kurt begins, then he watches his brother turn approximately the color of a farmer’s market tomato at the height of the season. “Oh my God, you already slept with him.”

“So?” Finn says, but he’s the one who’s blushing so hard Kurt can practically feel it from five feet away. “What, like you didn’t put out for Puck on your first date?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Kurt says, “but for your information, I didn’t have sex with Noah on our first night together.”

Granted, it’s a technicality at best, and at worst it’s kind of a lie, but what Finn doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Anyway, it’s not like Kurt’s surprised that Finn’s kind of a slut. The surprising part is that he somehow found the courage to fumble his way through his first time with another guy.

“‘S true.”

Puck’s voice startles both of them, and Kurt follows Finn’s gaze to his own bed, where Puck’s still sprawled in the center of the mattress, leaning back on his elbows and blinking at them. His voice is sleep-rough and when he reaches up to rub his eyes with one hand he looks an awful lot like an overgrown kid, and Kurt’s heart does some more gymnastics.

“He passed out on me like the lightweight he is,” Puck adds, grinning at Kurt and anyone else would probably think it’s a little feral, but Kurt sees the affection in his expression. “I had to wait until the next morning before he put out.”

“I fail to see what that has to do with Finn and Schue’s relationship,” Kurt says, but he’s the one who’s blushing now, and he knows Finn and Puck can both see it.

“For the record, that totally counts as putting out on the first date,” Finn says, “and I already told you, Will and I have been kinda dating for awhile now. So if anybody’s a slut around here...”

“Don’t make me kick your ass, Hudson,” Puck interrupts, but he doesn’t sound much like he means it. “Nobody calls Kurt a slut except me.”

He pushes himself off the bed to wrap his arms around Kurt from behind, laughing and pressing a quick kiss to Kurt’s cheek before Kurt manages to push him away. “I’m gonna hit the shower.”

And the thing is, Kurt really isn’t a slut. At least he didn’t used to be; before Puck he’d always enjoyed the ritual of being courted, taking the time to get to know someone before he showed all his cards, as it were. He’s never been a prude or anything; he didn’t hold out for months or demand a shower of expensive gifts, but he usually liked to go out with a guy a few times before they started tearing each other’s clothes off.

With Puck everything’s different. Maybe he’s right and it’s because they’ve known each other so long, but whatever the reason, Kurt’s _sure_ for the first time in his life, and it seems a little silly to waste time playing games when they both know exactly what they want. If that’s the way Finn feels about Will...well, Kurt just hopes it’s mutual, because if it isn’t, it’s going to hurt.

He’s still blushing when the bathroom door closes, but he ignores the warmth creeping up his neck and levels an appraising look at Finn.

“Noah’s going to stay here for the rest of our trip. But you don’t have to sleep on the couch, and I promise you won’t have to witness anything potentially scarring, no matter what he might threaten you with. We’ll be gone in a couple days anyway.”

“It’s cool,” Finn says, shoulders lifting in a shrug and Kurt’s pretty sure he actually means it. “I might have plans tonight anyway. I don’t know yet.”

Kurt opens his mouth to remind Finn that it’s Christmas Eve, which means tomorrow’s Christmas Day, and maybe he should think about the fact that bailing on the biggest family holiday of the year to shack up with his new boyfriend isn’t the best way to get Carole to come around. Then he remembers that Finn said that he’s planning to drag Will back to the house for Christmas, which leads to all kinds of questions as to why Will’s free for such a big holiday on such short notice in the first place.

None of which is really any of his business, brother or not, so instead he just says, “Whatever you decide. Let me know if you need me to cover for you with Carole in the morning.”

“Thanks.” Finn’s smile is a bit sad around the edges, and Kurt knows it’s because he mentioned Carole. Just like Kurt knows she’ll come around eventually, though he has a feeling Finn’s already heard as much more times than he can stand, so he doesn’t say it again.

“I’m happy for you, Finn. I hope it works out the way you want it to.”

“Thanks,” Finn says again, and this time his smile is genuine. “I’m glad you guys came home for Christmas. It’s been good, you know, catching up and everything.”

Kurt resists the urge to roll his eyes at the amount of actual ‘catching up’ they’ve done; mostly it feels like all they’ve done for Finn since they got back to Ohio is play a game of Deranged Matchmaker, and that’s mostly been Puck’s doing. But it has been kind of nice, discovering that Finn’s got a few more layers than Kurt’s ever given him credit for, even if some of those layers are...well, a little unexpected.

“I’m glad we came home too,” he says, and he’s surprised to find that he actually means it.


End file.
